demjenigen

Demjenigen is a German demonstrative pronoun and determiner used to refer to a person or thing mentioned previously, in the dative case. It is the dative singular form for masculine or neuter antecedents, and it is common in formal or written language.

Declension and forms

Demjenigen follows the der/die/dasjenige paradigm. In the singular, masculine: nominative derjenige, genitive dessen, dative demjenigen, accusative denjenigen. Feminine: nominative diejenige, genitive deren, dative derjenigen, accusative diejenige. Neuter: nominative dasjenige, genitive dessen, dative demjenigen, accusative dasjenige. Plural: nominative diejenigen, genitive deren, dative denen, accusative diejenigen. The dative form demjenigen is thus used when the antecedent is masculine or neuter; for a feminine antecedent the corresponding dative form is derjenigen.

Usage

Demjenigen is used to reference the person or thing in a way that emphasizes that specific, already-identified entity. It often appears in phrases like demjenigen, der zuerst kommt (to the one who arrives first) or Ich gebe demjenigen das Buch (I give the book to the one). It can function as a standalone pronoun or with a following relative clause, as in demjenigen, der Hilfe braucht (the one who needs help).

Notes

Demjenigen is more common in formal or literary contexts and is part of the broader set der/die/dasjenige used to refer to “the one” in German. When the antecedent is feminine, the corresponding dative form is derjenigen, not demjenigen.